Stabilizer



1943- c. H. DEERWESTER ETAL 2,325,835

STABILIZER Filed June 25, 1941 3 Sheets-Shget 2 V v Inn w A g- 1943 c. H. DEERWESTER EIAL 2,325,835

STABILIZER Fted June 25, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 CHA LES H, 0EEPWES7'EA? LESTE D, 5DELL Patented Aug. 3, 1943 STABILIZER Charles H. Deerwester, Washington, D. 0., and

' Lester D.*B dell, Harrisburg, Ifa. Application June 25, 1941-, Serial- No. 399,7 2]

, 7 Claims.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government ,for governmental purposes, without the payment to us of any royalty thereon. V

- This invention relates to stabilizers and comprises a mechanism which, although notconst tuting a gyroscope, is an efiective substitute in many situations in which a ing used; .7 Y

An object of the invention-is to provide adevice of this character which does notexactly fol low the behavior of a gyroscope, particularly the faculty: of precession which is inherenta n the gyroscope of common practice.

More specifically, an object of the invention 18 to provide a device of this character wh ch the inertia masses, instead of moving in circular paths as in a gyroscope, move backand forth n straight lines, and within selected limitations,

. and always in a plane which passes through the spin axis, to the end that, when-the axis is dis--' gyroscope is now be- 7 the, weights in the channels being imparted by.

- connecting rods --30 and 32, which are in turn operatedby-crank pins 34 and 36 in pu1leys38 and tain them in synchronous rotation; Any suitable 7 power, means, such as. a motor 44 may be assumed,

placed, no couple is setup at right anglesto the plane of displacement. 1 V

Other-advantages will appear as the invention is further described, references being had to the drawings, wherein. V ..Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view showmg the principle of the invention in the simplestform.

, If, whilefthedisc 20 is in a horizontal plane,

- rapid reciprocatory movement is imparted to the weights 26 and28 by the power meansprovided for that purpose, the disc will resistibeing tilted out ofthe horizontal plane- Thus if it is tilted on the axis;AA, downward at B and upward at B it will resist being tilted but will notjset up any force tending to tilt it 'on theaxis B-B as would be the case in a gyroscope v Similarly, if additional weights -,arei;added-arid arranged to rec proca e el n s 4- af and bl-b, b---b' (see Fig.2),'tiltmgabout the axis A- A will still not setup a couplejtendi'ng to tilt the disc about thej axis,B,- B'. trim-em:

bodimentrepresented byFigsfl l-and 2 isr shown t r lus ra u o s n mla mo pra ticable I means of putting the invention into efiect being shownin Figs.3 et seq. 1

Re r in n w e 7 inclusive an internally toothed ring gear 46 has an even number of; teeth and. an; externally toothed gear l8 having exactly half as ma yitfieth vFig. 8 is a vertical axial section taken at"88 I oiFig. 5, V

7, Figs. 9 to ar eidiagrammatic views showing a further development of the toothed gear; struc ture. 7

[Fig.1 14' is' a verticalaxial section taken at l4 l4ofFig.11. M

a further development of themechanismshown I in Figs. 3 to 14.

of a practical em- 0 Figs. 15 to 19 are'diagrainmatic views showing farther through its orbit, moving the Weight" through-points 62 and .64 to the extremity of. its straight line movement at v58. Revolving. the I as the ring gear is in constant mesh therewith.

the externally toothed gear ,being mounted tore volveabout the axis 50 of the ring gear and will be causedto rotate about its own'axisj 52 in so doing; I 4

I new. i an bsiiiqn t l i r t i' ear" 4 may'have revolved, a weight is afifixed thereto at thepoint of tangency-of the. pitch, circles of the two gears, further' revolving ojf the gear 4 8- will move the' weight -f rom the point of tangency .acrossa pitch-diameter of the ring gear.

Thus, in Fig. 3, a weight is attached to, the external gear 48 at 56, the point where the pitch circles ixgears itand 48 are, for the moment, tangent. If the gear 48 is now revolved-amt clockwise through halt itsorbit the weight 54' willfbe moved across a pitch diameter of the ring gear 46 from56 to58.

Figs. fl to'8 show other positions of the weight 54 insthe course ofits movement. In Fig. 4, the external gear 48 has revolved through one eighth ofitsorbit; moving the center of the weight to $0, while in Figs. 5, G and 7, the gear has moved rticularly to Figs; 3' to gear 48 an additional one hundred and eighty degrees will return the weight across the diameter from 58 back to 56. Fig. 8 shows the shaft 50 with crank 68 and crank pin 52 for moving the gear 48 through its orbit within the gear 46.

The mechanism sho wns in Figs. 3 to 8 has capacity for moving a single mass only, and for moving it across a single pitch diameter of the ring gear, and, inorderto incorporate this principle in a. ,structurewhich will function as heretofore described relative to Figsl' 1 and 2, a second .weight may preferably be added as indicated in Figs. 9 to 14.

In Fig. 9, a second weight it is shown, the

weight being placed on the gear 48 diametrically opposite the first weight A3.

When the first" weight 54 is now brought to the point of tangency 3 gear 46, and there would always be two weights in the same axial plane moving in opposite directions.

56 between the two gears 46 mats, the second weight 10 will be at the axis of the shaft 50.

If the shaft 59 is now rotated one turn,there by causing a complete anti-clockwise revolution of the crank pin- 52 about the axis of the shaft- 50, the gear 48 will have made two turns on its crank pin 52, the weightfi i will have moved from 5 to 58 and back to 56, and the second weight ltwill have moved from-50-to T2 to 50 to -14 .Concentrating an infinite number of weights on; the'pitchline of the revolving gear may preferably be accomplished by arranging the several parts as shown in Figs. 21 and 22. In this embodiment, static balance is achieved as it is in an'dbackto 50. Figs. 10 to 13 show the weights intheircourse acros their respective pitch dia-meters,and Fig. 14 represents thesame structures as described with respect to Fig. ,8, except for the addition of the second weight 10.

F The mechanism thus far described fulfills the requirements of the device demonstrated by Figs. 1 and-'2 in that two weights are oscillated through limited paths which are angularly spaced ninety degrees in the same-plane, and, since the oscillatory movementisj produced "through toothed gearing, the relative sequence'cf the two' movemerits is'maintained, Byreference to 'Figwld;

howeverfit; will be s'eehthatwhile the weights 54 and) are so placed 'on';the' ge'ar was to bring the gear and weig'ht's into balance with respect to the axis 52-," there is an imbalanced condition With-respect to the axis 50: r

Figs. 15 to20 inclusive showa-iurther-extem sion of the principles ofth'e invention in a device whichis statically although not dynamically pal anced. Here; instead ol? the single crank ct-with crank pin 52 ;on shaft 5i! asin Fig. 14,- the shaft 50 (see Fig520) has a disc lfi-withtwo crank pins 18 and 80 respectively supporting the gears 48 and 49361 rotation about their respective axes and revolution aboutthe axisof theshaft it). 7

The gear 48 as before has weights 54 and 78 secured ,to its upper side; diametrically opposite 1 each-otheron its pitch-diameter, while the additional gear 39 ihas weightst-l and 84 secured to its under-side, also diametrically opposite'and on its pitch diameter. When the shaft '50 has been given one turnanti-clockwise rotation, the weight- '54 will have moved in a straight line from ditto 58 and back tc 56,"the weight 70 will have-moved from; 50 to 1 2 13074 and back to 50, the Weight82 will have movedfromifl to M to 72 and back-to 50, and the weight "84 will have moved from '58 always moving in opposite directions. In this.

embodiment, toothed gearing shou'ld be employed so that the same relative-movements between the Fig. 'ZOjthe main drive shaft having a disc 18 winch-carries two. opposite revolving rcrank pins l8 and so, the axes ofwhichare parallel-to ling axis of shaft and at radially .equal positions with respect thereto. I

Pin 78 rotatably supports the axially spaced apart gears 85 :andBBxbuth (of which have attached to their sides the rims, 90. while pin 9.

rotatably supports ;a singleigear 5.92 midway be;

tween gears 88 and 88, the gear 92 having at tached-to itss'ides the rimszSfi whicharezofidquble the-thickness randconsequentlyflouble the weight of rims'QiI. -Gears.861.and 8.8 arein engagement with ring gears Stand 1'58, while gear-92 :is inacngagement with ringageari-QZ. .Obyiously,-by thus mounting two spaced apart :Inasses opposite onewhich is midway. between .them .8 dynamic as well as static balanceiis Lattained. The rims -95 and 9d are of such dimensions that the center of gravityof'anycrosssectionof aLr-"im is on :the

pitch circle ofthe gear-to which it ;is attached.

Each infinite particle of a rim, therefore. sfunc-i tions as an individual weight whichmoves, not a circular path, but in a str'aightlinaeach ticle in a different direction andacross a different pitch diameter oitaxingigear 155, 9891' 02,

and each such infinite particle has anequal particle moving in the same straight line but in :an

opposite directionv V V The-frictiong ear -wheels fi and 88 and Habeing merely carriers ofthcWeight masses, may preferably be made as' iigntas practicable, aszmay also-the pins "?3an'd 30, the doublebran-k 16, and

thebracelliB. V a. 1

A slightdegree or gyroscopie action may be present, due to the fact that the masses compris mg pins '18 and. 80,1crank "l6 and "brace E8jmove in circular paths and arethus subject to centrif ugal forceand may therefore be subject to "precession; but in the main, the moving masses of the rims, due to their straight line movement, re-

displacement from 'theifridr-mal plane in any direction and do not set up'a couple .at .risfht angles to .the; displacing force .as .in agyrjosco'pe.

Now while it is desirable thattoothed. gearing be used man arrangement such as is ShdWiilin Fig. 20, to keep the several weights .moving ,irLa certain relation to each other, the cation shown in Figs. 21 and 122, the-teeth on the gearing may be omitted, and properly proportioned frictiong arwheels e o e 8mm, f r, since the weights }are -infinite;in number, slight slippage which may occur between tlie fric 'tion wheels, asfor iinstancejbetween wheelsxsl and H32, .merelyresnltsz ri an QXchangein position of different particles, and no out of'step condition results. V

In subsequent references to gears or gear wheels, it will be understood that the term may be applied to either a friction gear wheel'or atoothed gear wheel.

A motor IE4 is provided for rotating the main shaft 58, and a housing N36 is secured to the mtor and carries the internal rings 96, 98 and I0 The bracing member I08 supports the upper said one pin each carry annular weights or only half the mass of the annular weights carried by the external gear wheel which is on theYother 5. The combination, in a stabilizing device, of

a rotatable driving member, dametrically opposite bearing means carried on the driving member, said bearing means having their axes ends of the pins 18 and 89 to hold them in proper spaced relation, and a cover member H0 closes the top of the housing.

Gimbal pins I I2 extend at opposite points from the housing IiioZ-and a gimbal ring H4 provides bearing for the pins in the normal manner, and while the device, in the several embodiments herein shown, may be adapted for stabilizing pointers, indicating devices and other uses to which a gyroscope is now being put, no means is herein disclosed for connecting to an indicator or pointer, such means being no part of the present equidistant from and parallel with the driving member axis and parallel with each other, external gears rotatable on said bearingmeans, said external gears having pitch diameters equal to the distance between the axes of the bearing] means, internal gear means surrounding said external gears and being in'engagement therewith, means to non-rotatably support said internal gear means concentricwith'the driving member, and annular weight masses having a mean diameter equalto the pitch diameter of said external gears concentrically carried on the faces of said external gears.

6. The combination, in a'stabilizing device, of

internal gearing, external gearing within, and p in engagement with, said internal gearing, the

wheel of the same said pitch diameter rotatable on the other pin and situated axially between the first said gear wheels, annular weight masses carried on said external gear wheels, the centers of gravity of diametrically opposite axial cross 'externalgearing being of half the pitch diameter of the. internal gearing, means non-rotatably supporting said internal gearing, bearing means for rotatably supporting said external gearing in engagement with said internal gearin a driving 'member for revolving said bearingmeans in an orbit equal to the pitch circle of said external gearing, and weight masses arranged to revolve in unison with said external gearing, said masses 7 having their axes coincident with said external gearing and a mean diameter equal to the pitch diameter of said external gearing.

sections of said weight masses being spaced a distance equal to the pitch diameters of-the said gear wheels, and internal gear wheels of twice thev pitch diameter of the said external gear wheels surrounding and drivably engaging said external gear wheels, non-rotatably held with their axes coincident with the axis of the driving member. 2. The structure of claim 1 wherein thelgear wheels are friction wheels. I 3. The structure of claim l wherein eachexternal gear wheel has two of the said annular weight masses, one on each side 4. The structure of claim 1 wherein the axially spaced external gear wheels which are on the cide'nt,

7. In astabilizing device, an internal gear,

means fornon-rotatably supporting said internal gear, an external gear of half the pitch diameter of the internal gear, in driving engagement with said internalgear, means to cause said external gear to revolve, about the axis of said internal I gear in an orbit of substantially the pitch diame- 'ter of.. the, external gear, and an annular weight mass having a mean'diameter of substantially the pitch diameter of the external gear, the external gear 'and the weight mass being drivably connected to revolve in unison with their axes coin- CHARLES H. DEERWESTER. LESTER D, BEDELL. 

